‘Assessed’ values way off these days

I recently received my ballot in the mail asking me to vote on two proposed Everett school levies. The first asks me to vote to raise my property taxes $2.52 per $1,000 of my “assessed” value to pay for “educational operations.” The second asks me to vote to raise my property taxes $0.50 per $1,000 of my “assessed” value to pay for “facility modernization.”

Now, like everyone else in Snohomish County, the valuations of properties are so out of touch with reality that they are suspect. Further, why should the schools only be funded by homeowners? Renters pay nothing? Why should I, a gay man with no children, pay for a woman living in an apartment with multiple children? I could easily say, stop having kids! At some point it may come to that, but until then, we really need to look at how we fund our schools. At the very least, I want a greater say in how these schools are run, not parent/teacher committees. For starters, if only homeowners are paying for our schools, only we should get a ballot to vote on any future levies.

Anthony Vicari

Everett